Process for treating water in oil emulsions



Patented Aug. 1 7, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN DE GROOTE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO WM. 8. BARNICKEL'du MPANY, OF WEBSTER GROVES, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

'rnocnss FOR TREATING WATER IN OIL n'MULsIoNs.

No Drawing.

This invention relates to the treatment of emulsions of mineral oil" and water, such as petroleum emulsions, for the purpose of separating the oil from the water.

Petroleum emulsions of the kind referred to' are commonly known as cut oil, roily oil and bottom settlings, and consist of oil constituting the continuous phase of the emulsion, droplets of water distributed a throughout'the body of water and constis tuting the dispersed phase, and films of matter that encase the droplets of water.

The object of my invention is to provide a process for treating petroleum emulsions that is similar to the process described in.

the United States patent to Barnickel, No. 1,223,659, dated April 24, 1917, in that it consists 1n subjecting the emulsion to the action of an agent that reacts with the hard water salts, but which is distinguished from said Barnickel patent, in that the substance used as the treating agent is derived from an entirely new source and is therefore a specifically different treating agent from those enumerated in said patent.

Brie 'fiy stated, my. process consists in treating apetroleum emulsion, in the conventional manner, witha substance derived from the rectification of the by-products ob- W tained in the destructive distillation of shale and allied products. The treating substance that T prefer to use isa water soluble soap obtained from a neutral, acid or alkali shale oil sludge, which may or may not have :5 been previously sulphonated. One method that can be employed to produce soluble- ,soap of the kind above referred to is as'follows:

Shale is subjected to. destructive distilla- .0 tion by means of any suitable retort, so as to evolve gaseous vapor carrying certain materlals susceptible of being condensed 1nto liquid form. This gas is passed through condensers and the liquid material consista ing essentially of shale tar oils and shale tar is condensed. The gas is passed into the distributin system. This mixture of crude shaleoi tar is distilled so as to separate the lighter oils from the heavy tars. These 0 light oils are then rectified with strong sul- .phuric acid so that a sulphuric acid sludge separates out. After this separation they are subjected to a strong alkaline mixture, and subsequentl an alkali sludge separates out. The oil t us obtained is brought to Application filed December 23,1924. SeIiaI No. 757,738.

' from its neutral sludge and'redis'tilled so as to give gasoline, lubrlcating oils, etc- Usually, the neutral sludge and alkali sludge can be used for breaking water-in-oil emulsions, although at times it is necessary to add more alkali or else to sulphonate this sludge with stronger sulphuric acid, such as commercial oleum, and subsequently, separate from the excess acid a make soluble by means'of an alkali. The acid sludge is usually made neutral with caustic soda and then treated substantially as the original neutral sludge.

A soap of the kind .mentioned is inexpensive enough to permit it to be used successfully in competition with modified fatty acids and other 1 highly active treating agents; it does not show the characteristic free mineral acid, as in the case or soaps derived from petroleum sludge; it can be shipped in metal containers, due to the fact that it is not acid in character; it is of uni form character, owing to the fact that the usual custom-is to erect a shale oil plant adjacent a bed of shale of suflicient size to I insure a uniform source of supply of raw material for the plant for many years, and 1t does not require pretreatment with an alkali solution of either soda ash or caustic soda, as is necessary with a reagent obtained from petroleum sludge. The reason for such pretreatment in the soaps derived from petroleum slud eis that soap is the soluble salt of a sulp onated petroleum acid. This sulphonated petroleum acid can react witgi alkali in its carbonyl radical just as an ordinary fattyacid, and it can react with the sulphonated acid radical just as 'sulphurlc acid. When such soaps are ordinarily prepared they are neutral or slightly alkaline.

thus described my. invention,

claim as new and desire to secure 7 1. A. rocessi for treatlng petroleum emulsions, c a 'acterized by subjecting the emul-i $1011 to the action of a water soluble, saponaceous substance derived from the rectification of'the 1i uid Water insoluble by-prod'- ucts obtained n the destructive distillation of shale.

2. A process fortreatin petroleum emul-.

sions, characterized by so jecting the emulslon to the action of a Water soluble saponac'eous substance derivedi from the rectification of the liquid; water insoluble by-products obtained in the destructiv'e distillation of shale and'having the essential cnaracter- I istics of a water softening agent.

3. A process for treating petroleum emulsions, characterized by subjecting the emulsion'to the action of a Water soluble soap obtained from a shale oil sludge.

MELVIN DE GROOTE. 

